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United States Patent |
6,126,447
|
Engelbrite
|
October 3, 2000
|
Color-assonant phonetics system
Abstract
A color-assonant phonetics system for the English language to facilitate
reading and pronunciation. It applies three styles of any font and fifteen
colors (including black) to the letters of the English alphabet on any
white background. All consonant phonemes are black letters and all vowel
phonemes are letters colored by a color whose name rhymes with the vowel's
sound. Uncommon phonemes are slanted letters. Silent letters are thin.
Webster's Dictionary's second definition of "assonance" is "vowel rhyme".
Webster's Dictionary's definition of "phoneme" is "the basic distinctive
units of speech sound by which morphemes, words, and sentences are
represented." Webster's Dictionary's third definition of "phonetics" is
"the symbols used to represent the speech sounds of a language."
Inventors:
|
Engelbrite; L. Eve (709 N. Brandon Dr., Chandler, AZ 85226)
|
Appl. No.:
|
986604 |
Filed:
|
December 8, 1997 |
Current U.S. Class: |
434/167; 434/170; 434/178 |
Intern'l Class: |
G09B 017/00 |
Field of Search: |
434/167,170,178,184
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
1428456 | Sep., 1922 | Stranders.
| |
1732980 | Oct., 1929 | Mooney | 434/170.
|
3407515 | Oct., 1968 | Pitman | 434/185.
|
3426451 | Feb., 1969 | Hoffman | 434/178.
|
3715812 | Feb., 1973 | Novak | 35/35.
|
4030211 | Jun., 1977 | McGinley | 434/167.
|
4115932 | Sep., 1978 | Charlesworth | 434/167.
|
4193212 | Mar., 1980 | Al-Kufaishi | 434/178.
|
4245587 | Jan., 1981 | Cooper | 434/167.
|
4270284 | Jun., 1981 | Skellings | 434/156.
|
4443199 | Apr., 1984 | Sakai | 434/170.
|
4609357 | Sep., 1986 | Clegg | 434/167.
|
4643680 | Feb., 1987 | Hill | 434/170.
|
4655713 | Apr., 1987 | Weiss | 434/178.
|
5197883 | Mar., 1993 | Johnston | 434/167.
|
5306153 | Apr., 1994 | Foster | 434/170.
|
5429513 | Jul., 1995 | Diaz-Plaza | 434/167.
|
Primary Examiner: Hafer; Robert A.
Assistant Examiner: Fernstrom; Kurt
Claims
I claim:
1. A phonetics method of the American English language comprising the
English alphabet:
a) enhancing single letters and letter groupings representing each vowel
sound with a color whose name has assonance to that vowel; the color set
being:
tan for /ah/ called short `a`
red for /eh/ called short `e`
pink for /ih/ called short `i`
blond for /aw/ called short `o`
plum for /uh/ called short `u`
gray for /ay/ called long `a`
green for /ee/ called long `e`
lime for diphthong /i/ called long `i`
orange for /oh/ called long `o`
blue for /oo/ called long `u`
brook (an aquamarine color) for diphthong /oo/ called short `oo`
brown for diphthong /ou/
turquoise for diphthong /oi/
purple for the schwa in /er/, and
purple for the schwa in /ul/;
b) indicating a vowel sound preceded by an unwritten /w/ or /y/ by a single
slanted colored letter or slanted colored letter group.
c) providing a thin font to all silent letters, including purple schwa
letters, and
d) modifying black letters representing uncommon consonant sounds with
slanted letters,
whereby said method aids reading and pronunciation.
2. The phonetics method of claim 1 wherein consonant sounds are colored
black, and the common sounds of single consonant letters are
b is /b/ in bib
c is /k/ in cat
d is /d/ in dad
f is /f/ in fluff
g is /g/ in giggle
h is /h/ in hug
j is /j/ in jug
k is /k/ in kick
l is /l/ in little
m is /m/ in mom
n is /n/ in nine
p is /p/ in pop
q is /kw/ in queen
r is /r/ in roar
s is /s/ in sis
t is /t/ in tot
v is /v/ in vine
w is /w/ in won
x is /ks/in fox
y is /y/ in yes, and
z is /z/ in zoo;
and the uncommon consonant sounds are indicated by slanted single black
letters:
c as /s/, /sh/, or /ch/
d as /t/ or /j/
f as /v/
g as /j/ or /zh/
q as /k/
s as /z/, /zh/, or /sh/
t as /sh/, /ch/, or /zh/
x as /gz/ or /z/
z as /zh/;
and slanted black letter pairs:
ch as /ch/ or /sh/
t sh as /sh/
th as voiced /th/ or unvoiced /th/
wh as /hw/
gh as /f/
ph as /f/
ng as /ng/, and
nk as /nk/.
3. The phonetics method of claim 1 wherein uncommon consonant sounds for
single letters and letter pairs are indicated by slanted black single
letters and slanted black letter pairs in foreign words adopted into the
English vocabulary.
Description
This file of this patent contains at least one drawing executed in color.
Copies of this patent with color drawings will be provided by the Patent
and Trademark Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that
is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection
to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure, as it
appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but
otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND--FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of pronunciation and reading aids. More
particularly, it introduces a new color-assonant phonetics system for the
English language.
BACKGROUND--PRIOR APPLICATIONS
A previous patent application for this invention, Ser. No. 08/514,972, was
abandoned. This color-assonant phonetics system for the English language
was incorporating into a software product called "Color Phonics" that
contains five CD-ROM's and two reference cards and a manual. The "Color
Phonics" product was published nationwide on Feb. 21, 1997, and it is
selling where it is made known.
The date of first use anywhere of the "Color Phonics" mark was Jul. 31,
1995, as verified by the PTO (#75/351080). The "Color Phonics"
pronunciation guide was copyrighted Aug. 15, 1995 (#Txu 649-643).
BACKGROUND--DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Public domain pronunciation guides and patented phonetic systems to English
contain extraneous symbols (diacritical marks) which detract from the flow
of text. U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,357, issued to Gwendolyn Clegg on Sep. 2,
1986, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,883, issued to Louise Johnston on Jul. 23,
1992, use diacritical marks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,713, issued to Martin
Weiss on Mar. 15, 1985, uses contrast in color, intensity, and typeface,
but he also adds extra symbols to the words. U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,211
issued to Edward McGinley on Feb. 10, 1976, does not use colors at all,
but uses a unique placement of letters on a chart.
Reading aids have made use of color for many years. U.S. Pat. No.
1,428,456, issued to Walter Stranders on Sep. 5, 1922 and U.S. Pat. No.
5,306,153 issued to Margaret Foster on Apr. 26, 1993, use color to
associate particular letters with corresponding strips below an
illustration to enhance spelling. U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,284 issued to Edmund
Skellings on Sep. 19, 1978, uses colors to highlight various aspects of
text such as assimilation or rhythm or grammar. There is no permanent
one-to-one correspondence of a color to a sound.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,732,980, issued to A. S. Mooney on Oct. 22, 1929, uses
selected colors "physiologically" related to the vowels' spellings, but
not assonantally related to the vowels' sounds. U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,199,
issued to Margaret Sakai on Apr. 17, 1984, uses non-assonant colors for
both consonant and vowel sounds. U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,812, issued to Lorna
Novak on Feb. 13, 1973, colorizes both consonants and vowels. U.S. Pat.
No. 5,429,513, issued to Ruth Diaz-Plaza on Jul. 4, 1995, uses red for all
vowel sounds. "Each of the distinctive colors corresponds to a
characteristic of sound production"--the place of articulation, not the
actual sound produced. U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,932, issued to Rita
Charlesworth on Jul. 15,1977, does use the following assonant colors for
vowel sounds: blue, orange, purple, brown, and turquoise; but the long
vowels are green, and all five short vowels (as well as certain consonant
digraphs) are red. The letters are not colored, but are white upon a
colored background tile.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,680, issued to John Hill on Feb. 17, 1987, uses black
and white in his set of assonant colors for vowel sounds. He uses outline
for silent letters. U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,515, issued to I. J. Pitman on
Oct. 29, 1968, uses bold letters to indicate syllabic stress. U.S. Pat.
No. 3,426,451, issued to Banesh Hoffmann on Feb. 11, 1969, uses dotted
letters for silent letters.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
For seventy years color-coded phonetic systems and reading aids have been
patented. Many of the inventions use various colors and styles to
represent the basic sounds of English. None fully incorporates the unique
one-to-one correspondence of an assonant color to each vowel sound,
slanted letters representing uncommon sounds, and silent letters being
thin. Several objects and advantages of this phonetics system are evident:
(a) It provides clear, immediate, visual distinction between consonant
sounds and vowel sounds.
(b) It provides one-to-one correspondence of an assonant color to each
vowel sound including schwas.
(c) It provides clear, immediate recognition of the number of syllables in
each word.
(d) It visually distinguishes all of the different vowel sounds from each
other regardless of spellings.
(e) It provides clear, immediate recognition of silent letters.
(f) It provides inferential visual cues instead of complex rules, thus
enabling students to spend less time learning the system and more time
using the system to aid their pronunciation and reading.
(g) It provides a readable text to both those who know the system and those
who do not, without distorting text with diacritical marks.
(h) It can be used in many mediums, fonts, and sizes.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a
consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The file of this patent contains drawings executed in color. Copies of this
patent with color drawings will be provided by the U.S. Patent and
Trademark office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
FIG. 1 portrays the colors and color names of the five short vowel sounds.
FIG. 2 portrays the colors and color names of the five long vowel sounds.
FIG. 3 portrays the colors and color names of the five irregular vowel
sounds (purple representing the schwas in /er/ and /ul/).
FIG. 4 portrays examples of the uncommon English consonant sounds of
letters indicated by being slanted.
FIG. 5 portrays examples of silent letters in words indicated by being
thin.
FIG. 6 portrays the application of the invention to a sentence.
SUMMARY
This color-assonant phonetics system for the English language applies
thickness of a font, slanted styles of a font, and fifteen colors
(including black) to the letters of the English alphabet on any white
background to facilitate pronunciation and reading. All consonant sounds
are black letters and all vowel sounds are letters colored by a color
whose name rhymes with the vowel's sound. Uncommon sounds are slanted
letters, and silent letters are thin.
DESCRIPTION
This phonetics system can be embodied in any color-printable material, or
visual display capable of color. The vowels have unique, assonant colors
whose primary or secondary vowel sound rhymes with the vowel sound it
represents. The conventional bracketing for speech-sounds (phonemes) is
between two slash marks / /. A diphthong is a monosyllabic speech-sound
containing two vowel qualities. A triphthong is a monosyllabic
speech-sound containing three vowel qualities. FIGS. 1-3 also serve as the
color key to FIGS. 4-6. The invention is applied to the text in FIGS. 1-6.
FIG. 1 portrays the colors and color names of the five short vowel sounds:
tan for short `a`, the vowel sound in "tan" is /ah/;
red for short `e`, the vowel sound in "red" is /eh/;
pink for short `i`, the vowel sound in "pink" is /ih/;
blond for short `o`, the vowel sound in "blond" is /aw/;
plum for short `u`, the vowel sound in "plum" is /uh/.
FIG. 2 portrays the colors and color names of the five long vowel sounds:
gray for long `a`, the vowel sound in "gray" is /ay/;
green for long `e`, the vowel sound in "green" is /ee/;
lime for long `i`, the vowel sound in "lime" is /aw-ee/ or diphthong /i/;
orange for long `a`, the vowel sound in "orange" is /oh/;
blue for long `u`, the vowel sound in "blue" is /oo/.
FIG. 3 portrays the colors and color names of the five irregular vowel
sounds:
brook for short `oo`, the vowel sound in "brook" is /oo-uh/ or diphthong
/oo/;
brown for diphthong /ou/, the vowel sound in "brown" is /aw-oo/;
turquoise for diphthong /oi/, the secondary vowel sound in "turquoise" is
/oh-ee/;
purple for the schwas in /er/ and /ul/, the primary vowel sound in "purple"
is in /er/ and the secondary vowel sound is in /ul/.
Common consonant sounds (phonemes) are represented by black letters. Each
non-slanted, black letter of normal font thickness represents only one
common sound (phoneme). The conventional common consonant sounds are not
represented by a separate drawing. The common sounds of the consonants in
this invention are as follows:
b is /b/ in bib
c is /k/ in cat
d is /d/ in dad
f is /f/ in fluff
g is /g/ in giggle
h is /h/ in hug
j is /j/ in jug
k is /k/ in kick
l is /l/ in little
m is /m/ in mom
n is /n/ in nine
p is /p/ in pop
q is /kw/ in queen
r is /r/ in roar
s is /s/ in sis
t is /t/ in tot
v is /v/ in vine
w is /w/ win won
x is /ks/ in fox
y is /y/ in yes, and
z is /z/ in zoo.
FIG. 4 portrays examples of uncommon consonant sounds indicated by black,
slanted letters. There can be one or more uncommon sounds represented by
each black, slanted consonant letter and letter pair; and they are
presented in order of their predominant occurrence in American English
words. The /s/ sound of `c` is more often encountered than its /sh/ sound,
and the /ch/ sound of `c` is rare. But slanted letters `ch` together
represent /ch/ or rarely /sh/.
The /t/ sound of `d` is often encountered in -`ed` endings, and its /j/
sound is rare. The only time `f` sounds /v/ is in "of". The /j/ sound of
`g` is more often encountered than its /zh/ sound. Letter `q` can sound
/k/. The /z/ sound of `s` is more often encountered than its /zh/ sound,
and its /sh/ sound is rare. The /sh/ sound of `z` is more often
encountered than its /ch/ sound, and its /zh/ sound is rare. The /gz/
sound of `x` is more often encountered than its /z/ sound. Letter `z` can
sound /zh/. The horizontal line separates the single consonants from
consonant digraphs.
Slanted letters `ch` most often make the sound /ch/ and rarely /sh/.
Slanted letters `sh` represent the single phoneme /sh/. In a word like
"mishap", letters `sh` would not be slanted, but in "misshapen" they
would. There are two traditional phonemic symbols for the digraph `th`:
the one pronounced without the voice is /th/, and the one pronounced with
the voice has a slash through the letters `th`, yet a slash typically
means "not"; therefore these confusing symbols were not used. The digraph
`wh` actually aspirates before the /w/. Slanted `gh` and slanted `ph`
represent /f/. The symbol /.eta./ is a modified International Phonetic
Alphabet's symbol for /ng/ used in this invention to demonstrate its own
phoneme as well as its relation to `nk`; otherwise the phonemic symbol for
`nk` would have been an awkward /ngk/.
Double consonants representing one consonant sound, like `ff` for /f/ and
`ss` for /s/, are not slanted. Therefore letters `ck`, though representing
just one /k/ sound, are not slanted.
FIG. 5 portrays examples of silent letters in words. Silent letters are
thinner than letters that represent sound. The silent letters are
represented in alphabetical order: `b` in "lamb", `c` in "czar", `d` and
`e` in "judge", `g` in "sign", `h` in "school", `k` in "knee", `l` in
"would", `n` in "hymn", `p` in "psalm", `t` in "watch", `w` in "wrote",
`ch` in "yacht", and `gh` in "thought".
FIG. 6 portrays the application of the invention to a sentence. All
fourteen assonant colors and black have been applied here, as have the
common, uncommon (slanted as shown in FIG. 4) and silent (thin as shown in
FIG. 5) aspects of the invention. The color assonance is as follows:
I (lime) want (blond) to (blue) join (turquoise) the (plum) good (brook)
people (green--purple) of (plum) Gold (orange) Town (brown) in (pink)
saying (gray--pink) that (tan) a (plum) man (tan) is (pink) worth (purple)
more (orange) than (red) one's (plum) money (plum--green) belt (red).
Each syllable has only one color, making it easy to recognize all the
two-syllable words in the sentence: "people", "saying", and "money".
OPERATION OF INVENTION
This color-assonant phonetics system can be displayed on a white background
on any color-receptive surface or visual display (paper, wood, cardstock,
plastic, tile, metal, cloth, film, film screens, computer monitors,
televisions, and the like).
Clarification of Concepts and Terms
In order to establish sound equivalency, Table 1 has been compiled:
TABLE 1
______________________________________
Color Sound Description IPA Diacritical
______________________________________
tan /ah/ short `a` [] a, a
red /eh/ short `e` [.epsilon.]
e, A, A
pink /ih/ short `i` [I] l
blond /aw/ short `o` [], [] o, o, A
plum /uh/ short `u` [], [] u, a, o
gray /ay/ long `a` [e], [eI], [ei]
a, e
green /ee/ long `e` [i] e
lime /aw-ee/ long `i`, diphthong `i`
[aI], [ai]
l
orange /oh/ long `o` [o] o, o
blue /oo/ long `u` [u] u, U
brook /oo-uh/ short `oo`, diphthong /oo/
[U]
brown /aw-oo/ diphthongs /ow/ and /ou/
[aU], [au]
ou
turquoise
/oh-ee/ diphthongs /oy/ and /oi/
[I], [i]
oi
purple e in /er/
the schwa in /er/
[], [] e, l, U, u
purple u in /ul/
the schwa in /ul/
[], [l]
______________________________________
Referring to Table 1, typical diacritical marks are displayed, there being
no agreed-upon standard for diacritical marks. Conventionally, phonemes
are placed between slash marks / /, and International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) symbols are placed between brackets [ ].
Referring to FIG. 1, in some dialects, the vowel sound in "pink" might not
clearly be pronounced as /ih/. When a short vowel sound is followed by
/.eta.k/, /.eta./, or /g/; as in "pink", "ping", and "pig", the vowel
sound may tend to distort toward a long vowel sound. But Webster's
Dictionary rightly verifies the letter `i` in "pink" is short.
Linguistically speaking, letters `ng` in "ping" is a digraph: one new
sound represented as /.eta./. This new sound is represented by the letter
`n` in `nk`, but for the sake of simplicity, both letters `nk` in "pink"
are slanted, though not a true digraph.
In FIG. 2, note that only the `g` is slanted in "orange" to represent its
uncommon sound /j/; thus the end of the word is /nj/, not /.eta./ as when
both letters `ng` are slanted. Note the vowel digraph `ue` in "blue" is
colored blue, as opposed to making the `e` silent. Vowel digraphs are
colored as one vowel sound. Note that `ay` is considered a vowel digraph
in "gray". Letters `y` and `w` are colored when they function in vowel
digraphs as vowel sounds.
Regarding FIG. 3, since no commonly known color name with the short /oo/
sound exists, the name "brook", indicative of water flowing in a brook, is
used and given an aquamarine color.
Notice in "turquoise" that the `q` is slanted to represent its uncommon
sound /k/. Normally `q` makes its common sound /kw/, and the `u` is
considered silent; thus breaking from the traditional representation of
`qu` representing /kw/. This is done because `qu` does not always
represent /kw/, as in "antique".
This invention distinguishes the sounds of schwas. Webster's Dictionary
defines schwa as "the mid-central, neutral vowel sound typically occurring
in unstressed syllables in English, however spelled, as the sound of a in
alone and sofa, e in system, i in easily, o in gallop, u in circus." It is
also described on its inside front page: "schwa occurs in unaccented
syllables to indicate the sound of the reduced vowel in alone, system,
easily, gallop, circus". The problem is that a non-native speaker would
not know in what manner to reduce the vowel. This invention colors the
thick, unaccented letters plum (for /uh/) in "alone", "gallop", and
"circus"; and colors them pink (for /ih/) in "system" and "easily".
Webster's Dictionary notes in its introductory "How to Use This
Dictionary": "the (l) can be syllabic, as in little, cradle, and tunnel
(lit'l, crad'l, tun'l). For entries showing syllabic /, alternate
pronunciations with schwa can also be heard." This invention clearly shows
the heard schwa, as is demonstrated in the final `e` in "purple" and
"people" (FIG. 6), but recognizes the letter's "silent" nature, since the
schwa is inherent in the letter `l` itself. These "silent schwas" act as
placeholders, like the zero does in our numeral system. "Silent schwas"
also appear in vowel letters preceding letters `n` and `r` as in the words
"button" and "better". The letter `e` before `r` in "better" would be thin
purple. The letter `o` in "button" could be thin pink or plum, depending
on pronunciation.
Letters `r` and `l` are referred to as glides, slides, semi-vowels, and
vowel-consonants in linguistics. In the vowel-consonants /er/ and /ul/,
the schwa is actually a part of the letter and impossible to detach from
it. In some words that schwa is overpowered by another vowel sound, as the
/oh/ does in "orange" (in FIG. 2) and "Gold" (in FIG. 6). In some words,
that schwa is clearly represented by a vowel letter directly before or
after the letter `r` or `l` as in "turquoise" (in FIG. 3) and "police", or
"theatre" and "people" (in FIG. 6). In these cases the vowel letter is
colored purple in a thin style in recognition that the schwa is inherent
in the letter`r` or `l`, and has created a syllable. This is helpful in
distinguishing triphthongs (three vowel sounds combined) from diphthongs
(two vowel sounds combined). "Flour" is a one syllable word with a
triphthong: the diphthong `ou` would be colored brown (the schwa being
inherent in the `r`). "Flower" is a two syllable word: the diphthong `ow`
would be colored brown and the `e` would be thin purple.
FIG. 4 is a reference chart for uncommon English consonant sounds. It is to
be understood that the list of uncommon consonant sounds represents a
typical American English vocabulary. It does not contain all the uncommon
consonants and alternative sounds represented in Webster's Dictionary.
Some phonetics systems add diacritical marks to differentiate between the
uncommon sound of the consonant letter(s) to be an exact pronunciation
aid, but this invention does not distort the flow of text with extra
markings.
This system can be easily applied to foreign words that are commonly used
by American English speakers to demonstrate a consonant does not make its
common sound, as in the Spanish words "javelina" and "quesadilla".
It is to be understood that the list in FIG. 5 represents examples of
silent letters for a typical American English vocabulary. It does not
contain all the possible silent letters for foreign words, or for obscure
words such as "mnemonic" which has a silent `m`.
FIG. 6 portrays one possible pronunciation of the sentence. This invention
is adaptable to differences in pronunciation, emphasis, and dialect. If
"than" was pronounced with the /ah/ vowel instead of /eh/, then the `a` in
"than" would be colored tan. If "the" was emphasized, the `e` in the word
"the" would be colored green. If the word "a" was emphasized, the word "a"
would be colored gray. Silent letters are commonly represented in other
texts with an apostrophe (sayin'). If /ng/ in the word "saying" is
replaced by /n/ in a dialect, then letters `ng` would not be slanted, and
letter `g` would be thin to indicate that the `g` was silent.
When a vowel has an unwritten consonant sound preceding it, then it is
slanted. The preceding sound of the word "one's" is /w/. The preceding
sound of the word "use" is /y/.
Letters `eo` are not a common vowel digraph taught in traditional phonics,
but this invention clearly shows they represent the /ee/ sound in
"people". Letter's `a`, `e`, and `o` are not commonly taught to make the
/uh/ sound, but are clearly colored plum in the words "a", "the", and
"of", "one's", and "money". The silent letter `e` in "more" and "one's"
clarify these words have only one syllable. The digraphs `th` and `ng` are
indicated by slanted letters.
The Ariel font is used in FIGS. 1-6. Ariel has very subtle differences
between its thin (normal), thick (bold) and thick-slanted (bold-italic)
styles. To provide more distinctiveness between the styles, a font like
New Century Schoolbook might be used instead.
Directions for Applying Invention to Text
1. Using an art/graphics computer program, select a font which has thick,
thin, and thick-slanted styles; and type your text using the thick, black
font.
2. Make all the silent letters (including silent schwas) thin.
3. Establish your color palette according to table 2 or 3 for professional
printing.
For displays using the Red, Green, Blue format, Table 2 offers example
percentages of the colors.
TABLE 2
______________________________________
Color R G B
______________________________________
Tan 86 71 60
Red 100 0 0
Pink 96 77 81
Blond 95 87 29
Plum 49 0 49
Gray 50 50 50
Green 0 60 0
Lime 55 80 0
Orange 100 50 0
Blue 0 39 64
Brook 0 60 60
Brown 58 40 100
Purple 79 45 100
Turquoise 56 93 100
______________________________________
For displays using the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black format, Table 3 offers
example percentages of the colors.
TABLE 3
______________________________________
Color C M Y K
______________________________________
Tan 15 30 40 0
Red 0 93 100 0
Pink 0 30 5 0
Blond 0 0 80 10
Plum 62 95 0 1
Gray 50 36 36 16
Green 84 0 100 0
Lime 51 0 98 0
Orange 0 62 96 0
Blue 100 50 0 0
Brook 89 3 46 0
Brown 28 55 85 23
Purple 42 51 0 1
Turquoise 37 0 9 0
______________________________________
4. Color the vowels using FIG. 1-3 as the color-assonance key, according to
their pronunciation in the text.
a. All syllables must contain one, and only one, color.
b. All letters representing the vowel sound in one syllable are to be
colored the same. Example: letters `eau` in "beautiful" would all be
colored blue.
c. Some purple, silent schwa letters will come after letter `r` or `l`, but
are colored to signify the syllable.
d. Color letters `w`, and `y` when they are part of the vowel digraph.
5. Slant consonant digraphs that create new phonemes.
6. Slant all consonants that do not represent their common sound.
7. Slant any vowels that have an unwritten consonant sound preceding them.
In the word "beautiful", the /oo/ sound is preceded by /y/, and so all
letters `eau` representing the one /oo/ phoneme would all be slanted. To
change the three syllable word "beautiful" to a four syllable word
according to a dialect, letters `ea` would be colored green, and the
following letter `u` would be slanted blue. [The order of #5-7 is
important, otherwise you might incorrectly slant the letter `u` in "sugar"
before you have slanted the letter `s` (see FIG. 4).]
Following these steps, those skilled in the art can apply this invention to
text.
CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE
This invention greatly simplifies pronunciation and reading of text. The
invention itself is simple. It can be easily taught and understood. The
colorful texts are inviting and stimulating to beginning readers. The
advantages of this phonetics system are evident:
(a) It provides clear, immediate, visual distinction between consonant
sounds and vowel sounds.
(b) It provides one-to-one correspondence of an assonant color to each
vowel sound including schwas.
(c) It provides clear, immediate recognition of the number of syllables in
each word.
(d) It visually distinguishes all of the different vowel sounds from each
other regardless of spellings.
(e) It provides clear, immediate recognition of silent letters.
(f) It provides inferential visual cues instead of complex rules, thus
enabling students to spend less time learning the system and more time
using the system to aid their pronunciation and reading.
(g) It provides a readable text to both those who know the system and those
who do not, without distorting text with diacritical marks.
(h) It can be used in many mediums, fonts, and sizes.
The preferred embodiments of professional color-printing on white paper and
of color display on computer monitor are already incorporated in the Color
Phonics product. It is hoped to soon have the invention applied to text in
children's books. The invention can be applied to transparency film to be
shown on overhead projectors. Color-markers can be used to apply the
invention to white paper or to erasable white boards.
Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been
illustrated and described and incorporated into a product, it will be
apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and
modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present
invention: various fonts of various sizes on various printable mediums and
visual displays. It is therefore intended to encompass within the appended
claims all such changes and modifications that fall within the scope of
the present invention.
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